


A Christmas Power Ballad

by ladysparkles



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28261641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysparkles/pseuds/ladysparkles
Summary: When Julie falls out of love with music, three ghosts do what three ghosts have done best since 1843.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Julie Molina & Luke Patterson, Julie Molina & Reggie Peters
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	A Christmas Power Ballad

**Author's Note:**

> I just really love A Christmas Carol and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could make my other favorite piece of media involving three ghosts fit the mold. There's some Easter (or Christmas if you will) eggs to the original story because I couldn't help myself.

Rose was dead. And that must have been the root of whatever had gotten under Julie’s skin when December came around. She was dead and even though the Molina family was trying to move on, that seismic shift was never going to go away. Something about the Christmas season was especially difficult on Julie.

The Molinas decorated the house for the first time since Rose died. And that was something. For years she had been the one putting up the decorations, so now seeing them again it was almost like she was still there. The same way that her spirit was around when Julie played music. Usually.

But music wasn’t quite reaching Julie. It wasn’t pain she was feeling, it was emptiness, a disconnection. And so she was taking a break again.

The last time before her self-imposed hiatus that Julie had attempted to play was the first band practice after the decorations had gone up. The world had shifted into Christmas mode and something had shifted in Julie as well. The band was set up in the studio. Julie put her hands on the keys and there was no spark. 

The guys looked amongst themselves and then watched Julie quietly, knowing something was wrong. 

“Sorry,” Julie said. “I, uh, am a little distracted because I have a big test I have to study for. You guys can go rehearse without me today.” She ran out before giving anyone a chance to question her. In that moment she knew she had to avoid the band as much as she could.

And Julie kept herself busy. She threw herself into every other conceivable activity that could be happening at the time. There were more decorations to put out, cookies to make, parties to attend, gifts to buy, places to volunteer, and anything else she could come up with that could keep her away from music. Most of the presents she gave to people she lovingly hand-crafted, and that took a fair amount of time. She got really into making earrings and necklaces for Flynn, to compliment their already large bracelet collection. Hopefully it made up for the lack of band management Flynn was getting to do lately.

For awhile Flynn had come up with opportunity after opportunity of performances for the band. They could have been booked solid all month long, but Julie had turned them all down. Eventually Flynn stopped bringing it up and was satisfied to spend time doing whatever else Julie was interested in. Ray too had noticed Julie’s attitude change when he would turn on the radio to the station that was nonstop festive music. As Ray would sing along to the best of his abilities, Julie had no interest in joining in; she would just laugh politely and lie to him about how good he sounded. 

The guys were as persistent as ever. If she didn’t find them, they’d find her and badger her with questions; how was she? Did she have time to practice? Did she like Christmas music? Can they try her cookies?  _ May  _ they try her cookies? Had she written anything lately? Had she and Flynn arranged any concerts? Who was Michael Bublé?

It was hard for Julie to be around the band, but it was hardest around Luke most of all. Julie could never--would never--push Luke away when he wanted to talk about a song he was working on or an idea he had. But when he’d look at her for the next line or to see if she was enjoying what he had so far, Julie could barely react. Luke wasn't just writing for his own sake, he had hope that if he came up with a good enough song for Julie he’d be able bring her back to the studio but the more he tried the more he could tell he was making the situation worse rather than better.

* * *

All the while Luke, Reggie, and Alex played music on their own but it wasn’t the same. They missed playing with Julie. And not just because it made them visible, but because it made them whole. In a literal sense as well as figurative. Before they died they had a tradition of getting away from their families and playing together on Christmas and they intended to do it again. But what they really wanted was to have Julie be a part of it.

On Christmas Eve, Julie was in the living room putting Ray and Carlos’s gifts under the tree when she heard the sound of three pairs of shoes landing on the ground. 

“What is it now?” She asked, trying not to sound like she was already fed up with them.

“We wanted to see if there was sometime that you were free tomorrow, so we can play?” Luke asked. 

There was plenty of time she’d be free, but the offer didn’t appeal to her. “It’s not a good time.” Julie said.

“Something simple,” Alex added. “We can’t book concerts without you so probably just going to the middle of a park or a mall and not leaving until we get chased out.”

“As fun as that sounds the answer is still no.”

“It doesn’t have to be Christmas songs,” Reggie said. “If you want to stick with our normal setlist we’d do that.”

“I want you to drop it.” Julie said. “For a few days at least.”

“But tomorrow is Christmas!” Reggie said.

“Yes, I am aware.” Julie gestured towards the presents she had just set out. The day was not lost on her, even if something was. 

“If there’s any day to be playing music, it  _ is  _ tomorrow.” Luke said, making his cute pleading face.

Julie was unmoved. “Not for me. I’ll see you guys around.”

She walked by them and up the stairs, not needing to turn around and see whether the ghosts had left. She wasn’t heartless, she knew they were feeling sad and disappointed. And they weren’t the only ones; she was feeling sad and disappointed with herself too. At least they didn’t have to blame it on themselves.

* * *

After dinner Ray said they could unwrap one present each before bed. Carlos opened a new pair of sneakers. Julie hovered her hand over what she was pretty sure would be a box of shoes for her as well and looked at her dad for confirmation--she knew he’d enjoy it if her and Carlos opened their related presents at the same time. And she’d enjoy it if it were nothing music related. Fortunately, albeit unsurprisingly, she also had a pair of sneakers that had a cute tie-dye pattern on them but plenty of room for her to add her own designs.

Julie gave her dad and her brother a hug and headed to her room. Reaching for her door she jumped at what she thought was her mother’s reflection in the metal of the knob. It wasn’t her mom, of course it wasn’t. She was being so silly, since when did she think her own reflection was her mom. Living with stupid ghosts who sometimes popped up around the house would do that to someone. 

She shook it off and went into her room. It was just as it should be. Of course. She found a spot for her new shoes to go and put her pajamas on. Everything was normal in her room, nothing had been disturbed by any ghosts. _Perfectly fine_ Julie thought to herself as she reached for her closet door to close it but as soon as the thought had finished she jumped yet again at a shape she recognized.

“Mom?” Julie asked, feeling foolish, but at the same time ghosts and signs were becoming a regular occurrence in her life. No, not her mom. It was just one of her mom's dresses she had worn recently hanging up. Nothing that weird about that, except she hadn’t left the dress there. One of the ribbons on it shook and the little bell sewn in rang. Julie pulled it off the hanger and held it close, running her fingers along the trim and the chains around the belt. 

It was just lights, reflections, and shadows that were making her think these weird things, nothing more. Hopefully. Although if she thought about it, something about her lunch had tasted off. Maybe that was her tainted hot dog. Or just something messing with her head. On the other hand if it was a sign she’d gladly take that as well. From her mom, or anybody, they had helped in the past, she could use another one.

Or maybe she needed a big girl and give herself her own signs. What would her mom be telling her if she could? “Baby girl, there’s so much that you’ll be able to do with your talent.” Her mom had said, with emphasis on the _much_. She could hear her voice now.

Julie took the dress over to Rose’s box of things, she wanted to rifle through all the memories and keepsakes one more time. She lingered on the pictures of Rose and her band. Her mom had been talented enough to sing on her own but she hadn’t wanted that path. When Julie asked why, she said that music was meant to be shared and it started with how you made it. “It’s more honest if it’s not you on your own. Especially when you write your songs. You won’t be able to see everything yourself. You need people you love to help. They can show you things about yourself that you’ve been missing. About what you’ve done, and who you are, and what you could do in the future. And all that, it goes into your songs.”

She had been right. And Julie wanted to keep believing that music could be all that still. She had learned a lot about herself lately, she just needed a little more than usual. All at once maybe, before it was too late. 

Julie sighed, closed up the box and finished getting ready for bed. Before turning off the light she opened her window for a minute, she didn’t know what she was expecting to hear; some kind of messages on the wind? All she heard outside was the same ghosts she was always hearing. For a second she considered calling out to them to say goodnight, but she stopped herself remembering that people would hear her and think she was crazy. She simply waved, and got in bed, falling asleep immediately.

* * *

In the middle of the night Julie was awoken by buzzing on her phone. Sleepily, she opened her eyes and scrambled to answer it. But holding her phone in her hand, she didn’t see anything. No calls, no texts, no alarms. It was one in the morning anyway, what could possibly have been setting off her phone at this time? She reached to put her phone back down and when she lifted her head saw Alex standing inside her door.

“What are you doing here?” Julie yelled. She was pretty sure it was Alex, but something about him looked different than usual. He was… brighter? Like he was illuminated somehow. But everything else about him was more or less the same. His sweatshirt looked more white than pink but that was probably just due to how oddly glowing he was.

“This is weird.” Alex said. Julie nodded. “You know I’m not good with this.” 

Julie nodded again. Was his glowing situation something she was supposed to help with? “Are you you?” She asked.

“Not exactly. I’m a ghost… of a ghost.”

Julie wasn’t sure she understood but she didn’t know if she was going to get a better answer than that.

“I’m going to show you something.” Alex sat on the edge of her bed. “That I hope helps you feel a little better.”

There was no point in acting like she didn’t know what he meant. “Okay… show me what?”

“The past. Which seems to be something I can do now.” 

Julie sighed, “How?”

“Same way we get around.” Alex pantomimed their ghost abilities to disappear and reappear places.

“So you’re going to poof out? But what about me?”

Alex held out his hand to her. “You can come with me. Just tonight though, probably.”

“You know, I had just gotten used to the whole ghost thing and now it changes again.” Julie couldn’t help but laugh a little bit as she put her slippers on. She had asked for a sign, no reason arguing with a request that was answered.

“Tell me about it.”

Julie held onto Alex’s hand and they poofed out of her bedroom…

Into an appropriately bright place. Or so Alex must have thought. He was disoriented by the light and the noise to register more, but Julie recognized the voices of her parents immediately.

“Is this my birth?!” She screamed.

“Oh god!!!” Alex screamed and squeezed his eyes closed before he could see anything more.

They were both shouting, Alex apologizing incoherently, and gripping hands until they disappeared from the hospital room, reappearing in a theater’s backstage.

Rose was kneeling in front of a five-year old Julie. “What do you say, Julie Baby? You want to sing with me onstage?”

“This is my mom’s choir’s Christmas concert.” Julie explained to Alex. “I had gone to all the rehearsals with her and we sang the songs together at home all the time. I wanted to perform with her but when they invited me I got scared.”

“I’m scared,” Little Julie said. Alex smiled at Julie like she had just predicted the future.

“I understand,” Rose said. “I get scared too. I had you singing with me every time I practiced. I don’t think I want to do it without my good luck charm. Will you do it for me?”

Little Julie looked down at her shoes and chewed on her hair. “Okay.”

Julie and Alex disappeared and reappeared in the audience to watch the show. 

“I thought I remembered this,” Julie whispered to Alex. Even though nobody could likely hear them she felt compelled to keep a low voice anyway. “But I guess I only remembered it the way my dad told it. He always focuses on me being such a star,” she paused and chuckled, of course that’s how he told it.

“What do you remember now?” Alex asked.

“I loved singing with my mom and everyone else, that was the only thing that mattered.” Julie’s face fell as she thought of something.

“What?”

“They probably still do these concerts.” Julie said. “I could have joined them.”

Alex shrugged thoughtfully. “There was always next year. Let’s see something else.” He held Julie’s hand and they disappeared.

They appeared in Carrie’s den where ten year-old Julie, Carrie, and Flynn were standing on a makeshift stage dressed as elves of different colors.

Alex looked around. “Oh I know where we were.”

“Then you better behave!” Julie warned. Alex looked as if to consider it and nodded.

“One more time and then your mom can come in.” Carrie said, pressing play on her iPhone, cueing the beginning of a “Jingle Bell Rock” backing track. Carrie counted down and the girls started dancing and singing. 

“We wanted to do the song,” Julie explained to Alex. “But we--well, Carrie--had to come up with our own dance. My mom would never be okay with us dancing like Mean Girls.”

“How do mean girls dance? Is it like...” Alex demonstrated some of the Dirty Candi moves that he had picked up.

Julie laughed. “No, It’s a movie! The dance is a little… not very appropriate, especially since we were 10.”

The trio finished their last rehearsal and called for Rose, who ran into the room with camera in hand.

“You’re going to send this to my dad?” Carrie asked. “If you think it’s good enough.” She added.

“Of course. I know it’ll be great.” Rose said.

The music restarted and the girls began to dance again. As Julie watched the younger versions of herself and her friends, she found herself gesturing along with the moves that she remembered. Alex caught on quickly and danced with her.

“Woo!” Rose cheered when they finished. “That was wonderful!” Julie and Alex held hands and bowed, disappearing as they did so.

Julie found herself in her family’s living room again. She could tell immediately just by the way it felt that it was the last Christmas with her mom. Alex must have realized that as well because he put his arm around Julie supportively.

The younger version--although at this point only slightly--of Julie was trying to sing “All I Want for Christmas Is You” for her mom but she kept faltering. When she would stop, Rose would hug her and join in. 

“I love this song,” Rose said when they finished. “Because you guys are all I actually want for Christmas.”

“I can take the earrings back?” Ray asked.

“No, I want those too.” Rose said quickly with a soft laugh, clutching the small box.

“I don't want to do anymore of this Christmas." Julie said. "I think it’s only fair that I see your past.”

“Yeah, okay. That’s probably something I can do.” Alex took a deep breath.

“No more births, please. I can’t take any more.”

“Don’t distract me or who knows where we’re going to go.”

Julie sealed her lips.

They appeared in a pew in a church behind a family. Julie could recognize the little boy in front of her by the blond hair. Plus he was tapping rhythmically on the bench, making different sounds at different angles. He was already so good, she could tell that it was “Deck the Halls” and hummed along a few bars.

“Little drummer boy.” Julie whispered to Alex. Alex began to laugh in response, but halted when the woman--obviously Alex’s mom--hissed in a whisper. “Stop that Alex.” Young Alex stopped drumming and attempted to fold his hands in his lap but he fidgeted nervously, much to his parents’ dismay. Julie's Alex looked straight down at the floor.

Julie put her hand in Alex’s softly and he poofed them away.

They were watching Reggie and Luke were warming up on their guitars. They looked nearly identical to how Julie knew them, so she figured this must be not long before they died.

“We’re fine without a rhythm guitar,” Reggie observed. “But I really don’t think we’ll sound any good without drums.”

“We could stomp our feet.” Luke joked. “Oh, thank god there he is.” Luke said as Alex walked in. Alex’s face was red and blotchy. Luke and Reggie both put their instruments down and rushed over to him.

“Hey… did telling them go badly?” Reggie asked.

“It didn’t go at all.” Alex confessed. “Dinner was already going badly enough and I got scared.”

“Oh, buddy I’m so sorry.” Luke and Reggie took turns hugging Alex.

“Are you sure you’re good to go on tonight?” Luke asked. “It’s not a big event. We can cancel. Say we got food poisoning or something.”

“No, I want to. Playing with you guys is the only thing that makes me feel better.”

Reggie nodded in agreement and gave Alex another hug.

“I know what you mean.” Luke said. “Let’s get some cold water on your face.”

“Wait,” Alex said as Luke pushed him towards the bathroom. “Are you doing okay? Your parents…”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Julie watched the Alex whose hand she was still holding while his alive counterpart set up his drums.

“This Christmas you’re happier though, right?” Julie asked.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Alex said, almost casually. 

“Really? I would’ve thought the bar isn’t that high.”

“No, I mean like I only can see into the past. I don't know what's happening now.”

“Right.” It was weird, he was Alex but he also wasn’t. Even though it wouldn’t matter she wanted to tell him about Willie.

“But!” Alex offered, trying to cheer her up. “If it has the guys and you, I can only conclude that’s pretty good. Having my favorite things in life.”

“Mine too.” Julie said. “And my family.”

“Oh, and music.” Alex added.

“Right.” Julie said with a soft smile.

“I think my time with you is about over.” Alex said, returning them to Julie’s bedroom.

“Thank you,” Julie said, giving Alex a hug. “For everything you showed me.”

“I love you, Julie.” Alex put his baseball cap on and disappeared.

* * *

Julie only had sat down on her bed for a second, not even long enough to take her slippers off again when she heard a loud thump from her closet. She walked over and cracked the door open, seeing Reggie standing amongst her clothes, eating a slice of pizza. He grinned at the sight of Julie.

“Come in! And now me better, Jules.”

“Where did you get pizza that you could eat?” She asked.

“Good question! I guess it's part of Christmas magic.”

Julie laughed and rolled her eyes. “You got something to show me?”

“Yes!” Reggie dropped the pizza he was holding and it vanished before it hit the ground. “Let’s go see Flynn!” He grabbed Julie’s hand and they were off.

It was daytime when they appeared in Flynn’s room. She was recording herself for Instagram Live. 

“Don’t you worry, Julie and the Phantoms are just taking a little break for the holidays. Yes, I know it would have been awesome to have them cover all our favorite Christmas songs, but even holograms deserve to have a vacation.” Flynn paused and read a comment. “Of course they celebrate Christmas in Sweden!”

Julie loved watching Flynn, she was really in her element. And that she was generously using her skills for Julie and her ghost band meant a lot.

“I’d love to have Julie join me, but she’s busy making the magic.”

“Flynn hates lying.” She told Reggie. “I feel bad that I'm making her do it for me.”

“You are making magic.” Reggie asserted, waving at the two of them.

“I guess in a way.” Julie smiled. There wasn’t a lot of time left to come up with something but she felt like she owed Flynn an even bigger Christmas present in exchange for how supportive she was to Julie through everything. Speaking of people who did a lot for Julie, “What are you guys up to?” She asked.

“Let’s go see.” Reggie took her hand and poofed them into the garage.

The guys were sitting around the table in their usual spots. Luke was poring over his lyric notebook, Reggie was tying a bow on a gift and Alex was writing on the label.

“Don’t look!” Spirit Reggie said, covering Julie’s eyes. “It’s for you.”

“It’s already wrapped.” Julie said.

“Oh, alright then.” Reggie lowered his hand. "Promise me that you don't have X-Ray vision."

“Can they, you, the other you see you?” Julie asked. “Since you’re all ghosts.”

“I don’t know. Let’s test.” Spirit Reggie walked past himself and gyrated in front of Alex. 

“We’re good. He wouldn’t not say something if he saw me.”

Julie rolled her eyes and tried to suppress a smile.

The guys were playing twenty questions. It was Luke's turn to think of something and have the others guess.

“It lives in California. It’s an animal, and it’s pretty. It can sing. But it’s not a butterfly or a parrot, or a dolphin, or a crow.” Ghost Reggie, recapped. “Then it must be…”

“It’s Julie.” Alex cut Reggie off.

“I was working up to it!” Reggie whined.

“So rude.” Spirit Reggie remarked to Julie.

“He’s wearing new socks,” Julie observed as Alex kicked Reggie playfully. 

“Yeah, Willie gave them to him.” Spirit Reggie said. “And you’d be so proud, Alex worked really really hard on--”

“A friendship bracelet.”

“You’re doing this too!” Reggie pouted. “And it’s a boyfriendship bracelet.”

“Mmhmm.”

“How did you know? Is your Christmas magic the ability to read our minds? You  _ are  _ a witch?”

“He borrowed my computer to learn how to do it.” Even though she had wanted to avoid the guys, Julie couldn’t turn down Alex’s request, especially knowing the reason.

“But the boundaries! Maybe you should give us our own computer.”

“You want to explain that to my dad?”

“Sure!”

“No.”

With the gift wrapping the guys were getting restless. “Let’s go be elevator music, boys!” Luke said, jumping to his feet and all three ghosts disappeared.

“Well, let’s see what we’re getting up too.” Spirit-Reggie said and poofed out of sight, leaving Julie standing alone in the garage. She looked around and waited… should she just go back to bed? Could she just go back to bed like this? Reggie poofed back in. “Oops! Forgot to bring you.” He grabbed Julie’s hand and then they both poofed away. 

They were standing in a park watching the ghost band sitting on a bench, singing as people passed by. Luke strummed on his acoustic guitar. 

“This one goes out to Julie Molina!” Reggie said. “I’ll have a blue Christmas without you….” He sang in a deep Elvis impression, smiling and dancing but Julie could also tell he really was feeling blue.

“Is that a ghost?” Julie asked, watching a cute guy in a cropped Christmas sweater skateboard through people making his way towards where they were standing.

“I know something you don’t know.” Reggie gloated.

Julie glared at Reggie good-naturedly.

“I forgot you’ve not properly met, that’s Willie.”

“Willie!” Julie cheered and waved at him. She knew nobody could see her but she couldn’t resist.

“Hey guys!” Willie fist bumped Luke and Reggie, Alex was hanging back, fiddling with his fanny pack. “How’s it hanging?”

“Not bad.” Luke said. “I think Alex has something to give you.” He added, practically shoving Alex forward.

Alex shuffled over bashfully. “I made these for you.” He pulled the bracelet he had made out of his pocket. 

Reggie and Luke sat back and watched Alex with eager expressions. But Julie didn't feel the need to watch him. Alex was just as he always was and even though he couldn’t see her she felt like staring at him would only add to his nerves. She watched Willie instead. It was so strange finally seeing this person who she had heard so much about--maybe even been in the room with already--but never actually had a face to attach before. Willie stood with his hand out gazing at Alex as he fumbled over and over with tying the ends of the bracelet together with a look of such adoration like he’d spend all the time in the world right there. The longer it took Alex the more Luke and normal ghost Reggie looked like they wanted to step in and help out. Spirit Reggie could see what Julie was seeing simply beamed.

Finally Alex exhaled as he finished.

“There.” He said. “I hope you like it.”

Willie held Alex’s hand. “I do.”

Alex blushed and stammered. “Okay…” 

Willie turned to Luke and Reggie, still holding Alex’s hand. “What are you guys up to?”

“Hanging out and playing music.” Luke said.

“Oh, is Julie here? I’m dying to hear her in person.” Willie said, laughing at his own joke. Julie was oddly shocked to hear herself be mentioned.

“Nah,” Luke answered, his sadness audible in his voice. “But if you wanna to join us for a bit?”

Willie looked at Alex. “Is that cool with you?”

“Yeah, of course. If you don’t have anywhere you need to be.”

“No, I’m all yours.” Willie declared. Alex blushed deeply at that.

“Alex might need his hand back at some point,” Reggie joked. 

“No,” Alex said forcefully, then cleared his throat. “I mean, I’m fine...”

“Are they always like this?” Julie asked Spirit Reggie

Reggie nodded, hardly suppressing a chuckle. “He deserves it.”

“Yeah,” Julie nodded. “He does.” It felt really special, getting to see someone love someone she loved. It felt just about as magical as ghosts and time travel.

  
  


“What’s your favorite Christmas song?” Luke asked Willie.

“Little Drummer Boy?” Reggie offered. 

Alex hung his head as Willie laughed.

“I made that joke earlier!” Julie said.

“Nice.” Spirit Reggie accepted a fist bump on his normal ghostly self’s behalf.

“I like Little Saint Nick by the Beach Boys.” Willie answered to put Alex out of his bashful misery.

“Awesome, I know that one.” Luke said as he started playing.

Julie sang along with the guys. It felt good, but she wished they knew she was there with them. Maybe they could feel it the same way that people could hear them even when they couldn’t see them.

Spirit Reggie sighed after a couple of songs. “We need to get going.”

“We can’t stay a little longer?” Julie pleaded. She wanted to keep being with her friends and take part in their joy. 

“I can’t be around much longer and I want to show you one more thing!” Reggie took Julie’s hand and poofed her away. Suddenly they were in a crowd of carolers. Poof again and they were in the crowd at a concert. Poof again and they were in a restaurant listening to the piano playing “Jingle Bells.” They appeared in and disappeared from place after place where different songs played and people sang. Julie was getting dizzy, but she'd be lying if she didn't kind of love the swirl of music around her.

“Where are we?” Julie asked as she caught her breath when they paused in a bar while Reggie tried in vain to swipe a beer from the counter.

“Ireland, I think. Good day mate!” 

“That’s not what they say.”

They poofed again and Julie felt the ground shaking beneath her feet. “What did you do!” She yelled at Reggie.

Reggie looked bewildered, but thankfully not scared, “Um…. oh.” He stood up straight. “We’re at sea!”

Julie looked around, so they were. It was actually obviously a boat now after paying attention. “But why?”

“I wanted to see what kind of food they have. Ooh I smell a buffet!”

“You can’t eat real food.”

“You don’t know that!” Reggie said as he trailed the scent.

Much to Reggie’s disappointment, he could not eat the food. He pouted and returned Julie to her bedroom.

“Goodnight, Julie.” Reggie said.

“Goodnight, Reggie.” Julie said, giving him a hug. “I had fun, sorry about the food.”

“I don’t want to talk about that.” Reggie wiped away invisible tears as he disappeared.

* * *

Julie was sure Luke was going to be coming around any second, but she could take just a moment to brush her hair real quick. When she put the hairbrush down she saw a dark figure in her mirror. Even though she was fully expecting him, horror movie instincts kicked in and she yelped. She turned and regained her composure. It was Luke but something about him felt unlike her Luke. He was so gray and gloomy looking.

“Last but not least?” Julie tried to joke to make up for how uneasy she felt. Luke didn’t say anything and that only made her more fearful to hear what he had to say or see what he had to show her. She took his hand before he even had to offer it to her.

They were in New York. Julie had only been a couple times but she recognized the view out the window. They were pretty high up in whatever building they were in. Luke let Julie lead the way so she walked down the hall. It was some kind of radio studio. And It seemed pretty fancy. What were they doing there, all the way in New York though? She marveled as she looked at the pictures on the wall.

“Wait,” she paused. She knew she recognized the woman standing shoulder to shoulder with Ariana Grande in the photo. “That’s Flynn!”

She followed the line of photos down the hall, moving faster to see where they’d lead, speeding past the desk with the photo of her and Flynn after the concert at the Orpheum, to the booth where Flynn was sitting.

“And here’s,” Flynn was saying, sounding so unhappy. “Is your top rated Christmas song, New York.” She pressed a button and Julie could hear the faint sound of “It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank.”

“This was practically her dream,” Julie said to Luke. “Why does she look miserable?”

Flynn was looking down at her phone. She had Instagram open. The first picture was a woman who seemed familiar to Julie but she didn’t fully recognize until she realized the username was her own. She was looking at a grown up version of herself. Flynn double tapped on the post to like it. She scrolled to the next post and it was from Nickster1000. The caption read “#tbt remember this dance girls? I wish I could’ve joined in!” It was a picture of Julie, Flynn, and Carrie performing the dance she and Alex had watched earlier that night. Flynn looked truly on the verge of tears, but clicked the like button. As the little heart animation popped up, Flynn let the phone drop to the desk.

“Oh Flynn,” Julie said. “I don’t know what happened. But you know I still love you.” She sat by Flynn as the song changed to “River” by Joni Mitchell, she couldn’t give her friend a hug but she tried singing along with the song softly. If it made any difference at all, it seemed to only make Flynn sadder. Julie allowed Luke to take her hand and transport them out of the studio.

Appropriately she found herself in a graveyard. She saw three figures standing a little ahead of her and walked nearer to them, Luke followed at a distance.. The three people turned out to be the guys and they were standing near her mom’s grave. 

“Why are  _ they _ here?” She asked Spirit Luke. 

“What if she doesn’t come?” Reggie asked.

“She comes every year.” Alex answered.

“But we don’t know if anything’s changed.” Luke said.

“Look, there she is.” Alex said, pointing.

The same older version of Julie that she had seen on Flynn’s phone earlier was coming towards them. Luke reached for Adult Julie’s hand as she walked by him but his hand passed right through her and she didn’t even pause.

“Can I… not see you?” Julie asked. That must be so because the guys were standing right behind her and she hadn’t even glanced at them.

Adult Julie placed a bouquet of flowers by her mother’s headstone. “Hi, Mom.” She said. “Carlos is graduating in a few months, he’s so tall now. My business is going well.” She paused and sighed. “I sold the piano for the startup cash. We needed the space and nobody was using it anymore anyway. I think you’d be happier with it going to good use rather than wasting away. I miss your voice and I miss music with you. But the thing is, I don’t know if I even could play anymore anyhow. I can’t help but feel like I let you down. I know you’d say you still love me no matter what, but I’m sorry. I love you. And if you’ve seen the guys anywhere, I hope they’re doing well.”

“They’re right there!” Julie cried out despairingly, gesturing towards the three ghosts standing right behind her older counterpart. How could she not see them anymore? And yet they were still there for her even when she clearly wasn’t there for them. She wanted to shake herself.

Adult-Julie walked away, all three of the guys watching her silently. Luke reached out, trying to put a piece of paper he was holding in her hand but he wasn’t able to.

“We need to get back to the club.” Reggie finally said, voice hollow.

“The club? Caleb’s club?” Julie asked. But what other club could it be.

Luke and Alex nodded, Luke dropped the paper onto the ground in front of Rose’s headstone and the three disappeared.

Julie reached down to pick up the paper, but she couldn’t hold onto it and it just sank deeper into the mud. She could see the traces of Luke’s writing fading away as the ink and water mixed together. This wasn't just any song, it was a song Luke specifically wanted to give to her but he couldn't. And now it was just vanishing. She kept grasping desperately until there was no more paper at all. Finally she stood up and approached Spirit Luke, crying.

“Luke, I know whatever this is isn’t up to you. It’s my fault. But believe me I don’t want this. You know how much music means to me, the music with you means to me. I’m sorry for shutting down on you guys again. But this isn't set in stone, right?  This isn’t going to be our future, I won’t let it be. I can fix it, I know I can do it because I’ve got you guys. I can do it for you and I can do it for mom. And for me.” 

Julie leapt at Luke to hug him, she felt herself falling but she also felt him holding her somehow as she plummeted to darkness.

* * *

“Ahhh!” Julie yelled, falling from bed. She lifted her head for a second. Morning! And she was definitely in her own bed. And thankfully not an adult yet. She ran out the door, passing Carlos in the hall. “Carlos!” She shouted at him. “What day is it?”

“Christmas.” Carlos was looking at her like she was insane, but that wasn’t anything new.

“They did it all in one night!” Julie laughed. “Of course,” she rolled her eyes at herself. “They’re ghosts.”

“What did the boy band do this time?”

“Well,” Julie debated how to start. Nope, too strange. Even for her. “It’s a long story.”

Carlos looked uninterested. “Are you giving me a present or just acting weird?”

“Just weird for now. Your present is already under the tree. Sorry, I gotta go.” Julie ran back into her room, she had plans she had to create and execute. And fast.

* * *

After breakfast and opening presents, Julie ran to the garage, swinging the door open enthusiastically. The guys were deeply engrossed in what they were doing. Luke had red dripping off his face. She hoped it wasn't blood.

“What are you guys doing?” Julie yelled.

All three heads snapped to Julie’s direction with their typical up-to-no-good expressions.

“We’re seeing who can paint Reggie’s nails the best.” Luke said.

“And I’m winning,” Alex said. “So…” He trailed off as he focused.

Reggie inspected Alex’s handiwork. “It looks awesome!”

“So you guys just don’t care about the band?” 

The game stopped immediately. All three looked at her earnestly. 

“We do.” Luke said. “But you said you wanted nothing to do with us.”

“Does that sound like something I’d say?”

“No!” Reggie said. “But you did.”

“And that’s okay.” Alex added.

“Guys, I changed my mind. Flynn’s gonna set something up for us to play tonight.”

They grinned. “That’s awesome, Julie.” Luke said.

“Glad you feel up for it.” Alex said. 

“Also," Luke scrambled over to grab his notebook. "We have a song that we’d been working on. We started it years ago. But we only just finished it. It’s--well it’s about how we only really had each other at Christmas. But that doesn't make it a worse holiday for us, it’s actually kind of better because we’ve got all the things we love. It always felt kind of unfinished before, but we were able to finish it last night because of you.”

Julie read the lyrics Luke handed to her. “Guys…”

“It’s the best way we could come up with to say thank you. You can totally change anything you want.”

“It’s perfect.” Julie said. She thought she could see the guys exchange smiles but her eyes were so full of tears it was hard to know for sure. 

Julie’s phone vibrated with a FaceTime request from Flynn. “Hey Superstar!” Flynn said.

“Hey Flynn!” The guys chorused with Julie.

“Hey boys!” Flynn waved at what probably only appeared as orbs on her screen.

“Were you able to set it up?” Julie asked.

“I think so,” Flynn said. “I just want to check I heard you correctly. You want to play in  _ the park _ ?” Julie smiled as she saw Alex raise his eyebrows as he made the connection. “There’s not a club called The Park that I don’t know about?” Flynn asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. Just spread the word on the million social media accounts you made us.”

“Oh I will. I was just checking. It’ll be great.”

“And you can mention we’ll be debuting a new song. A Christmas song.” Julie added.

“JULIE!!!!” Flynn shouted so loud Julie almost dropped her phone. “You really know how to make a girl’s Christmas. This is the best present you could give me.”

“Oh, really? So I’ll just keep what I made you?”

“No, I want that too!”

“Bye, Flynn.”

“See you later, Jules!”

Julie turned to the other three. “Let’s get rehearsing.”

* * *

Before they left for their impromptu concert, Julie turned to Alex. “You have your gift for Willie?” She asked.

“Yeah, right here.” Alex patted his fanny pack and then unzipped it to double check that it really was accounted for.

Julie opened her mouth, about to offer to show him how to tie it, but realized there was no need for perfection.

“Yeah?” Alex asked.

“He’s going to love it.” Julie said. 

“Thanks Julie. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

* * *

When Julie arrived with Ray and Carlos to the park, she saw Flynn had already done an amazing job of setting up a stage area with a string of Christmas lights. Flynn ran over with her camera to explain to Ray how livestreaming was going to work. While her tech crew was busy with their duties as they assured her, Julie conferenced out of sight with Luke about how they’d orchestrate the band’s appearance. Once they had settled on everything, she pointed at Alex who appeared to be standing off by himself, smiling at nothing.

“Is he…?” Julie asked.

Luke grinned and nodded. “It’s going pretty well by Alex standards.”

Julie smiled, she knew it would.

“Band circle?” She said and the guys arranged themselves around her. “I know this has not been the best month for me, but thank you for not giving up on me and for pulling together so last minute.”

“For you, boss? Anything.” Luke said.


End file.
